Gypsy Rose Blanchard: What we know about Ken Urker's death so far

Nearly four weeks after Ken Urker was found dead in his Louisiana home, how he died is still officially unanswered. Gypsy Rose Blanchard, meanwhile, has turned her grief into a public campaign against online harassment.

This report draws on ABC News, USA Today, People, Page Six, TV Insider, Fox News, KPLC, WWL-TV and statements from the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office and Coroner's Office. The full list of sources is below.

What officials have said

Lafourche Parish sheriff's deputies went to Urker's home in Raceland, southwest of New Orleans, around 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1. They were responding to a request for a welfare check. A relative asked deputies to check on him after he did not show up for work, according to an incident report obtained by Page Six. USA Today reported that its copy of the report said the call was also prompted by concern that he had threatened suicide. Urker, who turned 34 that day, was found dead.

The sheriff's office said it had found "no evidence of foul play," ABC News and Page Six reported. ABC News and KPLC described the case as apparently drug-related, and KPLC reported that the sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division and narcotics units responded. WWL-TV reported that the cause of death will be determined by the coroner's office.

The Lafourche Parish Coroner's Office said Oct. 2 that an autopsy had been completed but showed "no definitive cause of death." It said the case is pending toxicology testing and that it would release no more information about the cause until those results are in, Page Six reported. As of Monday, Oct. 26, no toxicology results or official cause of death had been made public, and officials had not said whether the death was accidental or intentional.

What Gypsy Rose Blanchard has said

Blanchard, 35, posted tributes to Urker on Instagram calling him her soulmate and describing their relationship as a great love story. In the first days after his death, she told People she believed he had overdosed but did not know whether it was intentional.

She has also said she believes relentless cyberbullying on social media, including TikTok and Reddit, took a heavy toll on him, Fox News reported. On Oct. 4, she pointed her Instagram followers to a Change.org petition for what she calls Kenan's Law, USA Today reported. Kenan is Urker's full first name. According to USA Today and TV Insider, the petition asks for: - a way to report a pattern of harassment as a whole, instead of one post at a time; - human review, with meaningful appeals, for serious or repeated cases; and - more transparency and accountability from major social media platforms.

In an update to the petition reported Oct. 23 by TV Insider and Page Six, Blanchard wrote that while toxicology results are still pending, she is certain Urker did not die by suicide. She also named a Reddit community she says targeted him and asked Reddit to review it. Those are her statements; officials have not announced a cause or manner of death. Blanchard wrote that the petition is about the cyberbullying, not the cause of his death.

Why her name is so well known

Blanchard was at the center of one of the most widely followed true crime cases of the past decade. Her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard, spent years falsely presenting her daughter as seriously ill and disabled, a case widely described as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. In June 2015, Dee Dee Blanchard was stabbed to death at her home near Springfield, Missouri.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder in her mother's death and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, was convicted of first-degree murder by a Greene County jury in 2018 and sentenced to life without parole, the Associated Press reported. She was paroled from Missouri's Chillicothe Correctional Center on Dec. 28, 2023, after serving 85% of her sentence, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections. The case has been the subject of documentaries, the Hulu series The Act and her own reality shows.

She and Urker met in 2017, while she was in prison, and were engaged in 2018 before splitting up. They reunited in 2024, after her release.

What happens next

The coroner's office has said it will release no further information about the cause of death until toxicology results are back, and the sheriff's office says its investigation remains open. NewsCubby will update this story when officials release new information. We will not report speculation about how he died.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or with substance use, help is available 24/7. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can also call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It is free and confidential. In an emergency, call 911.

*Credits: reporting from ABC News, USA Today, People, Page Six, TV Insider, Fox News, KPLC, WWL-TV, the Associated Press and NPR, plus statements from the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office and Coroner's Office. NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*

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